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February, 2008

  1. Michael Clayton…a lesson on great directing (or is that the editor?)

    February 2, 2008 by roseweaver

    I screened Michael Clayton the other day, and its a great movie, don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely a rental, cause the cinematography is nothing to write home around, but as much as I liked it, I just don’t know if it is Oscar / Golden Globe worthy. It’s in that same realm of Memento and The Usual Suspects (both personal favs), where the plot is all edited together in such a way that makes you confused up until the last 30 minutes. And George Clooney was great in his post-Ocean 11/12/13 days, as a confused lawyer/clean-up guy who gets to the bottom of a corporate cover-up, but I just don’t see “Oscar” anywhere in the mix.

    The directing is superb, as it always is in these kinds of movies, where you are kept guessing until the very end. But I always wonder..how much say does the editor have in the storyline? Probably none at all, as the editor is there to do what the director tells them…but as an aspiring editor, I like to think that there is always something there that the director can’t see, and that the movie just wouldn’t be the same without the editor…

    So is this worth seeing? Let’s just say, its not worth the $10, but it’s worth the Netflix subscription.

    RATING: NETFLIX

    Category Film Student for Life. | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Superbad…super or just super bad?

    February 2, 2008 by roseweaver

    Currently watching the “new” Breakfast Club/Pretty In Pink of the 21st Century…and I don’t know whether to be really offended or just roll my eyes at the absurdity of it all. While Pretty in Pink was a cult classic of its day, Superbad seems to be, unfortunately for my era, the cult classic of the year. Sure, it’s funny with its crude humor and dropped f-bomb every five minutes (which is probably why it appeals to college drinking games), and I don’t honestly know if I am a culture snob or just prefer the classics, but as funny as this movie seems to appear, it also has an underlining cultural substance to it…as in our culture nowadays prefers crude humor, no substance, cursing and drug use to plot-lines and character analysis….and I will be the first to admit that when it comes to movies, I am a snob. Where American Pie was funny and just as shocking, Superbad seems to lose its steam halfway through (although by the end of it, you laugh at it all and say, hey, I already wasted 1 hour, what’s another?). Even though it’s a what-do-I-do-when-my-loser-best friend-is-holding-me-back-from-the-life-I-know-I-can-lead (reminds me of a couple guys I used to date…), and actually has a plot-line (no matter how vague it is), I still feel like I am watching a movie that four frat guys with a video camera decided to make one drunken night…there are only so many Star Wars references and cop stereotypes I can take…sure, it’s funny. sure, it has somewhat of a plot, but seriously, it feels like a comedy written by those guys in high school who liked to make fun of the in-crowd and happened to have a lot of money lying around to make a semi-par studio movie, although I do see how it appeals to all the adolescent boys (and let’s face it, the twenty-something male audience too).

    so basically, watch this movie when you are 1) bored, 2) need to swear like a sailor, or 3) are drunk.

    And yes, I have no reason to talk because Judd Apatow is a frat guy’s hero who is worth about $7 million, but hey, it’s my blog.

    RATING: CABLE

    Category Film Student for Life. | Tags: | No Comments

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